Field of the Invention
The present disclosure describes a novel flame retardant and fire extinguishing product for preventing and fighting fires in solid materials.
Description of the Related Art
There are two general methods of reducing the potential damage from the burning of combustible materials—preventive treatment and active firefighting. Preventive treatment with a flame retardant may reduce the flammability of a material. Once a material begins to burn, the fire may be extinguished with an appropriate mix of flame retardants and fire extinguishing agents in liquid, solid, or gaseous form.
The use of flame retardants not only reduces the risk of a fire starting but also hinders its propagation. This increases the available time to escape from the damage and thus protects humans, property, and the environment.
An ideal flame retardant or fire extinguishing agent will have the following properties: (1) it will significantly reduce the flammability of the materials to which it is applied; (2) it will significantly reduce the risk of re-ignition after a material to which it is applied is exposed to fire conditions; (3) it will be non-toxic to humans, animals, and plants; (4) it will be biodegradable or at least not harmful to the environment; (5) it will not cause the release of toxic or corrosive substances under extreme fire conditions; (6) it will not migrate from the materials to which it is applied via evaporation or other forms of release; (7) it will not negatively affect the recyclability of materials to which it is applied; and (8) its production, processing, application, and disposal or recycling will not cause significant environmental harms.
Numerous flame retarding and fire extinguishing agents are available for reducing the risk of fire and active firefighting. However, each of the available agents for retarding and fighting fires has shortcomings.
Currently available flame retardants present several shortcomings: (1) most currently available flame retardants are designed for indoor use only; (2) many currently available flame retardants have a limited effective lifetime and require repetition of the impregnation process at regular intervals to successfully protect materials from fire; and (3) many currently available flame retardants are toxic or create significant risks of short-term or long-term environmental harm.
Numerous efforts have been made to overcome one or more of these shortcomings. These efforts have resulted in flame retardant products such as Dricon, Non-Com, HolzProf, Apyrum, Timonox, Magma Firestop, Firestop, and Firetard 120. Other efforts include the development of a water-based flame retardant for clothing derived from non-toxic ingredients such as clays and chitosan. However, these products are all limited by the types of materials to which they can be applied and/or the conditions under which materials must be treated. Further, all of the foregoing products are flame retardants and are not useful as fire extinguishing agents.
Currently available fire extinguishing agents present several shortcomings: (1) secondary damage caused by use of the fire extinguishing agent; (2) re-ignition risks; (3) short-term or long-term toxicity and environmental damage; and (4) lack of general utility based on limitation to use for specific types of fires.
Water is the most common fire extinguishing agent. It is safe for the environment but does have limitations and shortcomings in its use as a fire extinguishing agent. Water is usually required in large amounts to effectively fight large fires. It rapidly evaporates, and thus only a small portion of the total amount of water sprayed on a fire is utilized to actually extinguish the fire. In addition, when using water to extinguish fire, areas where fire has been extinguished are easily re-ignited. Moreover, the amount of water used to fight a fire often causes secondary water damage, leading to significant restoration costs related to this damage. When fighting fires in enclosed spaces, the risk of vapor explosion due to the presence of high temperature steam is significant. Use of water in firefighting may result in contamination of large amounts of water with pollutants, which will then be spread into the environment. Water also cannot be used to fight fires in many chemical products such as oil, gasoline, ethanol, and many other common flammable chemicals, mixtures, and solutions.
Carbon dioxide is an effective fire extinguishing agent for certain types of fires. It does not leave any residue and is relatively inert. However, toxic concentrations of carbon dioxide are generally required to fight large fires. In addition, carbon dioxide dissipates rapidly and thus it is not an effective agent for smoldering fires or preventing re-ignition. It can also damage certain electronics.
Various foams and powders also are used to fight fires. However, these foams and powders are often toxic, generate toxic byproducts, or are otherwise harmful to the environment. Non-toxic alternatives generally are restricted in their uses, have a limited lifespan, or present other shortcomings. The use of foams and powders often requires expensive clean-up operations after completing the firefighting. The foam or powder often must be applied so as to achieve full coverage of the ignited materials to effectively extinguish the fire. Many foams and powders are limited to use for fighting only specific types of fires. Moreover, because fire extinguishing foams and powders are generally non-adhesive to many materials, the foam or powder may be blown off the previously covered material by wind, leading to re-ignition.
Preventing re-ignition of extinguished surfaces will reduce the response times when a fire occurs, reduce risks to firefighters, increase opportunities to save lives endangered by fire, and increase opportunities to protect property at risk for damage or destruction by fire. Thus there remains a need for flame retarding and fire extinguishing agents that bind to a wide variety of surfaces so that extinguished surfaces cannot re-ignite during firefighting. Moreover, to reduce the environmental impact of firefighting, there also remains a need for environmentally safe, effective flame retarding and fire extinguishing products which can be used to prevent and fight a variety of types of fires in solid materials.